This client was referred to Naperville CARES' car program by 360 Youth Services. He happily checks out his new car at the Continental Motors Driven to Care Event held December 9, 2013.

This client was referred to Naperville CARES' car program by 360 Youth Services. He happily checks out his new car at the Continental Motors Driven to Care Event held December 9, 2013. (Posted By Naperville CARES, Community Contributor)

For the third straight year, at an event held at Continental Toyota Scion in Hodgkins, Continental Motors Group gave eight pre-owned vehicles, one from each of their dealerships, to the Naperville CARES Car Program. All eight recipients of the cars and their families, including young children, were at the Driven to Care event to celebrate their new cars, receive the keys and get a tutorial on each vehicle. All car recipients qualified for the Car Program because they lacked reliable transportation to get to work.

DuPage County resident and single mother Jennifer Davis was one of the car recipients. At this year’s event she received a 2004 Hyundai Sante Fe. Davis, who is a victim of domestic violence, has an 11-year-old son and works part time. While she was offered the chance to increase her hours at work, she was unable to take on the extra time without a car. Also, without transportation, her son could not participate in extracurricular activities at school.

“This car is going to help me seek my independence,” said Davis, “I will have some stabilization in my life and it will allow me and my son to live a more successful life. It’s such a blessing from God.”

Janet Derrick, Naperville CARES executive director, said, “We can’t thank the Weinberger family and the staff at the Continental Motor Group enough for again hosting this event and providing donated vehicles to the eight families who were vetted through the Naperville CARES Car Program. These vehicles will help each of these families get to work and allow them to take care of tasks that many of us take for granted like going to the grocery store, school events or taking their children to the doctor.”